


When Miaou Met Alfred...

by Miaou Jones (miaoujones)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Hope, Kid Fic, Kid Meets Nation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-10
Updated: 2009-08-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 00:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaoujones/pseuds/Miaou%20Jones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'll always have a smile somewhere in me, just waiting to get out. So don't give up on me, okay? And don't give up on yourself."</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Miaou Met Alfred...

**Author's Note:**

> This is an absolutely shameless author-insertion, so I urge you not to read if you want to retain any respect for me! It's just something I felt like I needed to write.

Except for the parts that are made up, this here is a true story:

Once upon a time, there was this very little kid. She had big brown eyes and dark hair that didn't quite curl and didn't quite lie flat. On this particular summer day, she was wearing shorts made from a pair of jeans her mom had cut and hemmed just above the knee, and a dark yellow football jersey with the number 1 in white on the front and back; it also had her first name, spelled out all in capitals in the same bright white lettering. On top of her head sat an old-fashioned driving cap, which was her dad's and had been his dad's before him. It was her favorite cap, even though it was somewhat too big for her; so big, in fact, that it was coming down into her face.

The cap was so far down that she couldn't see very well. But this little kid was a very stubborn little kid sometimes, and this was one of those times: she would not take off the cap. So as she walked along the crowded sidewalks with her dad and mom and little sister, she had to tilt her head way back so she could look out from underneath the visor. Her neck would get tired and she'd have to look down from all the people in their red, white, and blue outfits and just look at their feet for a while. That would get boring, so as soon as her neck was feeling better, she'd whip her head back again.

When the family came to a stop, she couldn't see much of anything. Her dad promised to put her on his shoulders once the parade started; he didn't want to put her up there just yet because he didn't want _his_ neck to start hurting. The little kid nodded and looked around and tried not to fidget, even though she was feeling quite fidgety. She looked around some more to see what she could see: she squatted down to see if she could see through people's legs, and she looked straight up to see what was up there in the sky. Her head went so far back when she looked up like that, the cap fell off. She turned around to pick it up—

But someone else already had, and was holding it out to her. The little kid looked from the hand holding the cap, up into the man's face. He smiled at her as she closed her hand around the cap.

She smiled, too. "Happy birthday!" she said.

"Ho ho!" The little kid turned at the sound of her father laughing. "Do you think it's everyone's birthday?" her dad asked with a grin, the kind invented by parents who are very fond of the whims of their children. "Today we're celebrating our nation's birthday," her dad explained, still smiling.

"Well," the man who had picked up the cap said, "it does happen to be my birthday."

"Is that right? A real, live nephew of your Uncle Sam, huh?"

"Born on the Fourth of July!" the man rejoined. He smiled at the little kid when she looked back at him, and then he squatted down so he was eye level with her. "Thank you, Miaou."

Miaou liked the man's smile so much, she wanted to touch it. But even though she was just a little kid, she was old enough to know you shouldn't go around touching people's mouths. So instead she smiled more and said, "You're welcome," and held out her hand for him to shake.

The man shook her hand. "My name is Alfred."

"Hi, Alfred," she said. "I like your smile." Impulsively, she put out her hand.

"Miaou!" her parents both said.

But before they could say anything else, Alfred said, "No, that's all right. I don't mind."

And so because he was still smiling and he said it was all right, Miaou touched his smile. It made her smile even more, even when her hand was at her side again.

The parade was going by in front of them now. Miaou thought Alfred would want to see it, but he stayed squatting down with her.

"Miaou," he said seriously, which she liked because she was the kind of little kid who liked to be taken seriously, "there might probably be days ahead that aren't as bright as this one. Do you know what I mean?"

Miaou nodded, and then, hesitantly because she wasn't actually sure if she did know, she said, "Like when it rains?"

Alfred smiled again. "Yes. Something like that." Then the smile faded and he was serious again. "There might be times as you get older when it will seem like it's raining all the time. It might seem like I'm not smiling anymore, and it might even seem like I'm never going to smile again."

Miaou did not like the idea of Alfred not smiling. She did not like it at all. Her lip started to quiver.

"But you know what?" Alfred leaned a little closer, so Miaou did, too. "I'll _always_ have a smile somewhere in me, just waiting to get out." To prove it, he smiled again; and so did Miaou. "So don't give up on me, okay?"

Miaou nodded.

"And don't give up on yourself."

Again Miaou nodded.

"Promise?"

Miaou held up her pinky, and Alfred hooked his around it. "Promise," she said solemnly. And then, because he was smiling, she smiled again herself.

He straightened up, and when he was on his feet, he snapped to and gave her a salute, which she returned.

"At ease," he said, giving her a wink and a grin before he strode off into the crowd.

She watched after him until she couldn't see him anymore.

Suddenly, two hands swooped her up: and the next thing she knew, she was perched atop her dad's shoulders. As she watched the horses prance by, she forgot about looking for Alfred in the crowd.

And even if Miaou forgot all about ever meeting Alfred F. Jones when she grew up, she held onto that promise.

As for Alfred—true to his word, he's held onto his smiles. And sooner or later, the sun always comes out again.


End file.
